Thursday, March 11, 2010
About As Bad As It Can Get
This is harsh, I know, but if there has ever been a time Coach Dino Gaudio and the Deacons had it coming, it would be today.
Having watched Wake Forest lose to a No. 7 seed in the ACC Tournament (Maryland) by 11, lose to a regular-season also-ran from the Horizon Conference seeded No. 13 in the NCAA Tournament (Cleveland State) by 15 and then lose to an ACC Tournament No. 12 seed missing its leading scorer and rebounder (Miami) by 21, I honestly don’t know where the Deacons can go to find someone they can beat in post-season.
A disturbing trend that began long before Gaudio took over as head coach only accelerated today when the Deacons were beaten just abut every way a team can get beaten by a Hurricanes’ team that had lost 11 of its previous 14 games. What is it about Wake Forest and the post-season?
That’s a question I asked everyone I could get to during an extremely somber post-game session. And no one had the answer.
“I don’t know,’’ senior L.D. Williams said. “Maybe we’re not used to being there. I don’t know. I really don’t know. I wish I could explain it. It’s unbelievable. Unbelievable.’‘
Chas McFarland, who played just one minute in the second half, was of no more help.
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out too,’’ McFarland said. “It’s not like we come out here and lose on purpose and not play well on purpose. There’s only so much time you can work on it, but we’ve got to go back to the drawing board.’‘
The seniors, Williams, McFarland, Ish Smith and David Weaver, have now won one post-season game in six tries—and that was the first one in which they played. Since beating Georgia Tech in double overtime in the first round of the 2007 Tournament, Wake has now dropped successive post-season games to Virginia Tech, Florida State, Maryland, Cleveland State and Miami.
But none, other than the devastating loss to Cleveland State last March, hurt worse than the one today.
“Honest to goodness I’ve never see anybody get shot and killed over a basketball game,’’ Williams said. “You can’t be scared. It’s basketball. We play this for fun. This is why we live, for these types of games, for the ACC Tournament. And for four years I’ve had the worst taste in my mouth in the ACC Tournament.
“I’ll never be able to get over this as long as I live. I’ve won one game in four years.’‘
The Deacons had the look of a team in disarray, especially in the second half. The body language bordered on profane. On more than one occasion Gaudio turned his palms toward the arena ceiling in a “Just what is going on?’’ gesture. He pulled McFarland after McFarland picked up his third and fourth fouls early in the second half and didn’t put him back in. He left Al-Farouq Aminu on the bench for all but seven minutes of the second half, and later didn’t mention the bruised hand that Aminu said was bothering him from the time he shot an airball on a free throw with 4:50 left in the first half.
But not one person in the locker room would acknowledge internal problems on the team. If they’re covering anything up, they’re doing it in unison.
“We’re fine,’’ McFarland said. “The chemistry’s fine. We’re fine. Everybody on this team loves each other. That’s not even a question.’‘
It came from a senior, and it came from a freshman.
“We’re one of the closest teams I’ve ever been a part of,’’ C.J. Harris said. “Every one of us are brothers.’‘
So if it’s not dissension, there must be another reason to explain the Deacons’ post-season woes. If they’re lucky, they’ll get a chance to figure it out next week in the NCAA Tournament, and not the NIT.